Daniel 5:8

8 But when all the king’s wise men had come in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant.

Daniel 5:8 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 5:8

Then came in all the king's wise men
The whole college of them, the persons before described; over whom, in Nebuchadnezzar's time, Daniel was the chief of the governors, ( Daniel 2:48 ) , these came in readily, in hope of getting both riches and honour: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the
interpretation thereof;
for if they could not do the former, it must be impossible to do the latter; of the reason of which, various are the conjectures ^F16: as that, though these words were written in Chaldee, yet in characters, as the Samaritan or Phoenician, they did not understand; or were written without points, and so they knew not which were the proper ones to put to them; or they were written according to the position of the letters of the alphabet, called "athbash", of which (See Gill on Jeremiah 25:26), or the words were placed so as to be read backward, or else downward, and not straightforward; or they were all in one word; or only the initial letters of words; but the true reason was, that it was so ordained by the Lord, that they should not be able to read and interpret them; this being reserved for another man, Daniel, that he might have the honour, and God the glory.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Vid. Jac. de Clerice Dissertat. de Epulo Belshazzar, in Thesaur. Theolog. Philol. vol. 1. p. 885.

Daniel 5:8 In-Context

6 and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

7 The king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will have a gold chain placed around his neck. He will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom!”

8 But when all the king’s wise men had come in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant.

9 So the king grew even more alarmed, and his face turned pale. His nobles, too, were shaken.

10 But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar, “Long live the king! Don’t be so pale and frightened.